Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called Lebanon's decision to send 15,000 troops to south Lebanon an interesting step.
Israel wants a strong international force to join the Lebanese troops before it would agree to withdraw from Lebanese soil, a senior Israeli official said.
Mr Olmert urged Western powers to step up discussions on the composition of the proposed force and said his security cabinet would meet tomorrow to consider moving Israeli troops deeper into southern Lebanon to push back Hizbullah fighters.
Senior Israeli official
Western diplomats said yesterday's unanimous decision by the Lebanese government, which includes two Hizbullah ministers, could mark a turning point in negotiations and lead to changes in a draft UN Security Council resolution seeking to end four weeks of fighting between Israel and Hizbullah.
Lebanon has said it was unhappy with the initial US-French draft, demanding it include a call for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon.
Israel wants the revised resolution to make clear that the international force has the mandate and military capacity to keep Hizbullah from moving back into southern Lebanon.
"I heard about the Lebanese government decision yesterday to deploy 15,000 Lebanese army soldiers," Mr Olmert told a news conference. "This decision is an interesting step which we have to study and examine and look at all the implications - to see to what degree it is practical and in what time frame."
Mr Olmert said Israel would "like to see the Lebanese army" deployed in the south of Lebanon along with "strong military support that would come from other countries.
"The exact make-up of this [international force] is something which needs to be discussed rapidly," Mr Olmert said. "It will not be a force of inspectors but rather a force of combat units that can be effective."
France also welcomed Lebanon's proposed troop deployment.
"It demonstrates the desire of all the parties in Lebanon to enable the Lebanese government to exercise its sovereignty over all its territory," Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said.
A senior Israeli official added: "The question is whether this [Lebanese] force will be escorted by Unifil, which is an incompetent force, or whether this Lebanese force is supported by a strong stabilisation force and then Hizbullah is incapable of penetrating back with arms."
The Lebanese government said the army was willing to seek the help of a boosted UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. However, it did not explicitly say whether Hizbullah would pull out of border areas.
The south of the country has been under the virtual control of Hizbullah guerrillas. They say they will cease fire only once all Israeli soldiers leave Lebanese land.